I was trying not to burnout, but thought I was swimming faster. I was expecting 32...oh well.

I would say train more but I know that won't happen. Unless it's a full ironman, 20-25 hours in a 4 month time frame is about the max I can handle.

Ok this is crazy... but I couldn't find one of my socks and wasted a lot of time looking for it. I did not want to go through the race without socks. I looked everywhere and after about 1.5 minutes of looking, I decided to wear just one sock. Well after putting on my shoes and helmet, I found the sock stuck to the back helmet.... off go the shoes and on with the sock. Man I wasted time!

Double check my transition area two or three times.

No big issues on the ride. the first 10 miles felt slow but the rest seemed to fly by. I think I could have average a little faster, but really would have paid for it on the run.

Not much..

Much better than the first transition! No big issues.

Nothing

In the first mile I got a couple of "shots across the bow" with quad cramps. It wasn't enough to stop me, just painful enough to scare me and slow me down. I was pissed because I was shooting for a 7:20ish pace and without the cramping I think it was possible. Ive had cramping issues my last few races and some of them were so severe that it cost me a lot of time.
For the rest of the race, the short but painful cramps continued off and on keeping me honest. Towards the last 3 miles my body was really hurting. I tried not to let it stop me. My knees ached, I was cramping and my stomach was killing me. I was able to keep a 7:45ish pace to finish the race, but thought I was going to die.

It's all about the training if you want a fast time. I don't train enough (like most people) but expect a fast time. My body suffers for it!

Not too much


I had a really rough day the day before the race. I worked packing the camper, food shopping and watching the kids all day. The minute my wife got home (2pm) I drove the camper 2 hours and then spent the next 1.5 hours setting it up. I then had to drive down to register and turn my bike in. I didn't stop from 6am to 7:30 that night. That said, I think I did the best I could considering I started training for this race about 2.5 months before.